


When Tides Changed

by ChrysanthemumDeceit



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Gen, Historical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-24 06:04:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16634366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrysanthemumDeceit/pseuds/ChrysanthemumDeceit
Summary: The year is 1884, ex-pat Lim Changkyun is staying in Kyoto, Japan to run away from his troubles back in his home country of Korea. Rather than find himself free from obligations, a haunting reminder of the changing times finds him in the most unsuspecting of places.





	1. The Man in the Bar

A cigarette lightly tapped a silver dish, its ashes falling softly into the center. It was lifted to meet a set of lips that quickly held onto it, sucking the nicotine ridden smoke in and into the lungs of a woe begotten man. The man was sitting on cushion at a chabudai, his legs crossed as he withdrew the cigarette, holding in the smoke for a moment longer before letting it pass through his lips he’d left slightly ajar. His hand laid the cigarette to rest, snubbing out the flame in the dish as his free hand reached for a small cup, only to bring that to his lips and drink its contents. He winced, sake was an acquired taste and he just hadn’t come to like it yet.  
“ 顧客さまはもっとお酒はいかがですか?” The man heard a voice to his right, only to find a kimono clad woman at his side. He placed the cup back onto the wooden tabletop before replying.

“いいえ、結構です.”　

The woman gave a short smile and brief nod before speaking again, “必要なものがあれば教えてください."After that she strode away, the man returned to his drinking.

”彼女はあなたといちゃつく.”　another voice pulled the man from his drinking.  
“何って言ったの？”The man once more placed his cup down, pouring himself another glass as he turned to face the other voice. This time it was a man who spoke to him, he was sitting at another table across from him, a shifty grin on his face. Something about him seemed different form everyone else in the bar, but the man couldn’t quite put a finger on it in this dimly lit room. 

“彼女は一晩中あなたを見た.” The other man answered, now standing up and proceeding to walk over to him. “しかし、それはあなたが韓国人だからでしょう." He stated, now sitting at the same table. 

Now in a better light, the man could get a better view of his acquaintance. “Aren’t you Korean too?” He asked in his native tongue, feeling much more relieved that the burden of speaking a different language was momentarily sated. 

“Was I found out that quickly?” The other laughed, scratching his head. “I thought my Japanese was pretty good, wasn’t it?”

“Um, I guess so.” 

Giving a quiet chuckle, the man spoke once more, “I’m Shin Heoseok, and you are?” His hand extended over the table for a shake.

Less practiced with western formality the man looked at the hand for a moment before raising his own to formally introduce himself, “Lim Changkyun.” 

“With an accent like that you must be from the south, Daegu maybe?”

“Gwangju, actually.”

Heoseok snapped, “That makes sense. Well Lim Changkyun, what brings a kid like you to Kyoto?”

Changkyun stared quizzically at the character in front of him. Wasn’t this guy around his age? “Studying,” he answered shortly. In truth that wasn’t the whole story, but it was an easier explanation. 

“I can’t say that sounds very interesting,” Heoseok shrugged his shoulders, “But being Korean in Japan is better than being a Korean in Korea right now, isn’t it?”

Changkyun’s brow furrowed, he hadn’t expected things to take a political turn. The annexation of Korea had surely moved the political climate, and the righteous army groups growing in the country added growing tensions onto every citizen both Japanese and Korean in Joseon. But still, with extraterritoriality aiding the Japanese in the Korean commonwealth, Changkyun had to agree, albeit begrudgingly, the Japanese made life less enriching for Koreans. “I suppose you’re not wrong,” he muttered, picking up his glass once more and drinking. He shifted his body, thrown off by this whole meeting, “Why are you here?”

“The Gion Matsuri,” Heoseok nodded. The festival was occurring in a week’s time, so it made sense for him to be here, Changkyun supposed. Before Changkyun could comment, a wicked grin splashed itself onto Heoseok’s face. “Gotcha,” he laughed. “My father’s actually the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Japan.”

Changkyun’s eyes widened, in shock of who he was with and why someone with that status would give himself us so easily. “Shouldn’t you be in Tokyo then?”

Heoseok sighed, “Tokyo’s too boring, too many people and not enough culture. But Kyoto’s peaceful and the people here are much less snotty.”

“Isn’t that rude?”

“They can’t understand me,” Heoseok laughed, “It’s like when the soldiers come into Korea and insult us to our faces. How many of us would actually understand what they were saying if we hadn’t already been taught?” 

Changkyun wasn’t too fond of it either but he was still wary of those around him. “I suppose you’re right.”

Heoseok stifled a yawn, “I can see I’ve left you a little speechless, my friends say I can come off as too abrasive at first. Perhaps they are right,” He stretched before standing up, “I’m meeting a few of them at Kamo in an hours’ time, would you like to join us?”

“I’ve got classes tomorrow,” Changkyun excused himself, still off put by this whole scenario. “Perhaps another time.”

Heoseok nodded, helping Changkyun stand, “I’ll telegram you if you truly are interested, where are you staying?”

“Imadegawa Inn, room 202,” Changkyun stated mindlessly, wondering if the other individual was truly going to write. “I must get going, he checked his pocket watch, “I didn’t realize how late it’d gotten.” He reached into his jacket pocket and placed a handful of yen down before heading towards the door. 

“Goodnight,” He heard a voice call out from behind him, it was Heoseok trying to figure out how much he owed the patrons.

“Have a good night, sir.” Changkyun heard another voice as he left, it was the woman from before. It caused him to pause for a moment, had she just spoken to him in Korean? No, he must be mishearing things, the alcohol was hitting him harder than usual. He shook his head and left the bar, trying to figure out his way back to his hotel. 

He eventually found himself staggering in through the front door of Imadegawa Inn, the receptionist looked up before asking, “イム　チャンキュンさん？”

Changkyun looked up, straightening himself as he tried to walk soberly to the desk. “はい.”

“イムさんは電報を受け取りました.” The woman reached under the desk to pull out a thin card, it had both hangeul and kanji on it so Changkyun was safe to assume that it had been sent from Korea, and not from the man. 

“ありがとうございます”He nodded before taking the letter and tucking it into his jacket pocket. Changkyun then turned to the staircase to his right and headed towards his room. Once inside he threw himself onto his bed, asking himself why he thought it was a good idea to go out drinking on a school night. He massaged his temples briefly before finding himself falling into a deep slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I wanted to try my hand at writing something historical-related just because I'm a history nut. If you're confused with anything that's going on feel free to ask! Also I know this is a short chapter, you can expect a longer one next time!


	2. New Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A telegram from home arrives and new acquaintances are made as Changkyun's time in Kyoto lengthens

Broken sunlight filtered into the room, the shades were drawn enough only to allow slants of light to come through. The city outside was bustling whereas the hotel room seemed almost vacant of any form of light, save for the sound of soft breathing as the occupant slept. Lim Changkyun continued to sleep, dreaming of something sweet enough to add a slight curvature to his lips. He rolled in his sleep, the telegram received in the night folding under his weight, unbeknownst to him.

Three swift knocks awoke him from the depths of slumber. He bolted up, raising a hand to run through his hair. “起きておられますか?” A voice rung out seconds after the rapping.

“うん,” Changkyun responded groggily, moving to allocate his footing onto the floor. He heard soft footsteps leading away from his door, he supposed his wakeup call was completed. Rummaging around his suit-pocket he pulled out his timepiece, the clock revealed that it was eight o’clock, he had two hours before his lessons began. Letting out a soft groan, he placed the watch away and pushed himself onto his feet. His knees cracked as he rose and stretched out his arms, signaling that his sleep must’ve been docile. Once again, his hand moved to his jacket as he recalled the telegram, now crumpled in the crevasses of his pocket. Changkyun pulled out the letter, walking to pull open the blinds to allow more reading light in.

“To Lim Changkyun,” He mumbled out, reading over the first few lines. “Your father and I are distressed by your last letter regarding Sooyoung. Sending letter after this, should arrive in a few days’ time. Write us afterwards.” An audible scoff after he’d finished reading, he could almost hear his mother’s tone. The telegram was tossed onto the bed as Changkyun took off his jacket, he’d been avoiding his familial issues for a while now and it seems as if they’re coming back to bite him in the ass. It wasn’t entirely his fault for doing so, Sooyoung had shown reluctance to their situation as well, maybe that was changing though… Whatever, Changkyun sighed.

A few moments later he found himself in a fresh set of clothes, ready to face the day. In truth, he was dreading his lessons but at least it provided some relief from thinking about the drama happening back in Gwangju. His shoes dragged along the wooden floor as he stepped out of his room, locking it with the small gilded key behind him. Once in the hallway, his posture straightened as he began to make his way towards the staircase that would lead him into the main lobby. The crushed emerald green velvet railing ran under his fingers as he descended, swiftly moving into his pockets once his feet landed on the granite tiles splaying out an ocean of deep gray below him.

A thin beam of sunlight shone in through the slit in the door of the entranceway, the windows attached to the door had been covered in the same crushed velvet encasing the staircase via curtain. It felt like he was in a black hole with how dimly lit the interior of the building was. Eventually he made his way through the lobby, past the plumes of smokes belonging to the lackadaisical men resting in overly decadent armchairs smoking out of their kiserus.

Fifteen minutes later Changkyun found himself walking along the bank of the Kamo river, looking across the blue water to the bridge up ahead so he could cross. Before he could take another step forward, a voice called out to him.

“Lim Changkyun!” It held no anger, so he was relieved that it wasn’t some vengeful spirit of his family coming to steal him away back home. Instead, he saw the acquaintance he’d met the night prior waving to him as he passed with a small group of people.

Shin Hoseok turned on his heels to face Changkyun and put his hands back into his pockets, a small smile graced his lips before he asked, “Surprised that I remembered your name?”

Changkyun scratched his head, somewhat bewildered. “More so surprised that I’m seeing you again so quickly, Kyoto is a pretty big place, after all.”

“Must be fate then,” the other chuckled to himself, and then paused, seeming to momentarily forget that he was in the company of others. “Ah, let me introduce you to my friends, this is Bae Joohyun, her father’s the owner of Bae Weaponry.”

The girl he gestured to nodded her head slightly and muttered a small, “Hello.”

“She’s a hell of a shot, I wouldn’t get on her bad side if I were you,” Hoseok joked, at least Changkyun hoped he was. “And this is Chae Hyungwon, an old friend of mine.”

The other male didn’t verbally greet him, just gave him a short bob of his head.

“Nice you meet you,” Changkyun greeted them, feeling a little bit awkward. “My name is Lim Changkyun.”

“Changkyun here is in Kyoto to study.” Hoseok finished off the introduction for him. “Where are you headed?” He asked.

“I’m actually headed to school now, in fact,” Changkyun reached into his jacket pocket to procure his watch. “I’ll actually be late if I don’t get moving, it was a pleasure to meet the both of you, but I really should be going.” He put the watch back into his pocket and bowed to the group. “Perhaps I’ll see you again soon,” and with that he was off, briskly walking down the worn path by the river to the bridge that would lead him to school.

“I’ll reach out to you soon!” He heard Hoseok call out after him before returning to converse with his friends.

The summer sun beat down on Changkyun as he walked, a thin mask of perspiration masked his face as he trudged onwards. Had he known the heat would be so sweltering, perhaps he would have chosen a lighter jacket to wear, but it was too late to change anything now.

“You’re almost late,” Changkyun heard a familiar voice call out to him as he approached the school’s front gate. His friend Lee Jooheon stood leaning against the stone wall that surrounded the college grounds, his other friend Lee Minhyuk stood right beside him.

“Sorry about that,” Changkyun apologized, “I ran into some acquaintances and talked with them for a moment.”

“Unless they gave you the answers to Yamane’s upcoming test, I doubt it was that important to risk being late for,” Minhyuk interjected.

“You’re probably right, but I couldn’t be rude.”

“Forever the dignitary,” Jooheon sighed, “Let’s get going or we’re all going to be late.”


End file.
